Reviews 2017

Swallows, Amazons and Coots: A Reading of Arthur Ransome

With no full-length academic study of Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books since
Peter Hunt’s 1992 monograph, Approaching Arthur Ransome, the time would
seem ripe for a new appraisal of these classic novels. Julian Lovelock’s Swallows,
Amazons and Coots: A Reading of Arthur Ransome, however, more dips a toe in
the water than dives deeply into its topic and, as such, it often seems to be
drifting rather than steering a steady course.

Lovelock’s intention is to "challenge as much as reinforce the pervading attitudes
of [Ransome’s] time" (3), and his main approach is to tie the writing (and content)
of the series to Ransome’s own life experiences (hence, perhaps, the subtitle,
"A Reading of Arthur Ransome," rather than "a reading of the series"), despite
the inherent danger of trying to counter the intentional fallacy without presenting
a depth of biographical and other information. Although Lovelock does belatedly
note the need to "avoid the temptation to make connections that are too exact"
(215), brief biographical references to, and speculation on, Ransome’s life are
dropped in when needed to make specific, limited points about various moments in
different novels. This kind of approach dissipates the book’s focus.

Lovelock devotes a chapter to each of the novels in turn although, for Ransome
scholars and enthusiasts, the rather long plot synopses may prove redundant, and
often they are not employed in order to make specific, analytical comments. This
episodic structure means that information is often repeated in various places,
which also means that the ideas that Lovelock emphasises from one book are not
always followed up on in detail but simply re-appear from time to time in other
chapters. This can be seen, for example, in the sporadically considered notion of
play (and perhaps, the secret of Ransome’s ongoing appeal is that he understood,
and represented in his fiction, how imaginary play in childhood can be simultaneously
real and unreal, both aspects held in tension together). In addition, Lovelock is
wont to throw in odd moments of Freudian analysis. One example of many is about
a pre-pubescent Titty’s "sexual awakening" in Pigeon Post [1936] whilst
holding a hazel water-divining rod, something Lovelock does not develop in any of
his further discussions of Titty or the other characters as they grow up throughout
the series, largely because, in this instance at least, close reading of later
novels would not seem to support such comments.

In fairness, Lovelock has simplified and synthesised some of the existing
Ransome scholarship, and those new to Ransome can therefore avoid any immediate
scouring of available criticism, but it is not clear that this book goes much beyond
what has already been said. For example, Lovelock does point to the development
of the characters as they age although Hunt had already argued for the series as
"a Bildungsroman" (87). Similarly, the argument for the novels reflecting
"the dying British Empire and its values" (17) is a point already made, for example,
by Hazel Sheeky Bird in her argument that the books offer "a sustained critique
of the imperial geographic imagination" (100).

One broadly new idea presented here, however, is that the books are comedic.
Unfortunately, support for this contention is done more by telling than showing.
Consequently, the idea comes across more as personal opinion than reasoned argument.
There is also a brief discussion of the metafictional elements of the storytelling,
particularly in Peter Duck (1932), but Lovelock simply describes the
technique rather than delving into the implications of this, either for Ransome’s
children’s fiction or for the development of children’s literature more generally,
which would have been a welcome discussion here in placing Ransome’s work as
innovative for its time. Noticeable, too, is the lack of any comment of substance
on Ransome’s maps and the academic scholarship on them even though the maps (and
mapping within the novels) would seem to be a major feature of the books, having
already garnered critical attention. Frustrating, too, are the numerous comments
of the "many scholars" or "some critics" kind without a note of which critics
have made the claims Lovelock suggests, thus presenting what appear to be straw
man arguments.

Unfortunately, Lovelock never seems to overcome the problem of his uncertain
thesis, and this requires him to take a post-colonialist hindsight approach, whilst
also arguing the books are both of their time and progressive. Thus, he is caught
in the quandary of having to acknowledge what are now seen as faults, while still
wanting to celebrate the series’ success and so passing over (even seeking to excuse)
some elements such as the, to modern eyes, awful pidgin English in Missee Lee.
Perhaps this is why Lovelock does not really explore why the books retain their
undoubted vitality today, despite their apparent "pastness" and despite the often
lengthy description of things that modern (young) readers might tend to overlook,
as Fiona Maine and Alison Waller have observed (364–65).

The book is less academic in form and substance than other work on Ransome (not
all of which is acknowledged in the Select Bibliography at the end of the book,
which is really no more than a works cited list in disguise). This rather incomplete
list of critical work on Ransome’s novels is something of a missed opportunity to
collect together an up-to-date list of criticism that could serve as a jumping
off point for scholars new to Ransome (although this may well have been a publisher’s
request). For readers totally new to Ransome, the book could certainly provide a
gentle introduction to the Swallows and Amazons series, and it may well offer some
grist to the academic mill but, overall, it is difficult to determine quite where
this book fits.

What shines through the fog above all, though, is Lovelock’s affection for the
novels and characters (he even, somewhat mawkishly perhaps, takes to imagining what
the characters grew up to become beyond the childhood world of the books), and this
is refreshing given how much academic work is produced simply because a given topic
is in vogue. This affectionate tone is enhanced by the inclusion of a foreword by
Sophie Neville, current president of the Arthur Ransome Society (TARS), who portrayed
Titty Walker in the 1974 film version of Swallows and Amazons. In short,
Lovelock offers us a fond glimpse of Ransome’s work rather than a fully charted
course through its possibilities, a glimpse that may well be a prompt for new
readers, but will probably not fully satisfy Ransome scholars or enthusiasts.